Netflix Makes New Moves to Try and Regain Momentum

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) are getting slammed today (down $4 to $70) after announcing $400 million of financing transactions last night, consisting of $200 million in new equity at $70 per share to T Rowe Price and $200 million in convertible zero-coupon bonds to venture capital firm Technology Crossover Ventures. This move comes on the heels of the company’s recent deal to be the exclusive home to new episodes of the comedy series Arrested Development, which was canceled after a three-year run on Fox despite a cult-like following and strong critical acclaim.

Netflix may be facing headwinds after customer backlash from their recent price increase, but CEO Reed Hastings is certainly not standing still. Getting the exclusive for Arrested Development is a smart move, as it will be harder and harder for Netflix to compete strongly without original, unique content. Amazon, which offers a similar streaming service through Amazon Prime, along with Apple, which will likely launch a TV product sometime in 2012, are serious competitors to the Netflix streaming business.

While Wall Street clearly does not like these equity and bond deals, I think it is really the best possible way for them to finance the costs of deals like Arrested Development. Selling zero-coupon bonds gives Netflix 0% financing and the bonds don’t convert until 2018, which is a long time for Netflix to build up their business.

I would also point out that TCV, the investor in this bond deal, is making an interesting bet here. By taking convertible bonds that pay no interest, they are making a large bet on the direction of Netflix stock, plain and simple. TCV’s break-even point on these bonds is $86 per share, 16% above the market price when the deal was announced and more than 20% above the current quote of around $70 per share. While investors are selling off the stock today, the fact that TCV is making a pure stock bet here could be viewed as quite bullish (as would the move by T Rowe to buy new stock at $70). If Netflix was really in dire need of this cash and few investors were willing to lend it to them, you can bet that TCV or any other possible financier would be demanding a bulky interest rate.

With Netflix stock down more than 75% from its high of $300+ earlier this year, this one is surely one to watch. Of course, it is very concerning that Netflix was buying back stock in the 200’s earlier this year and now finds itself needing money and selling new stock at $70 per share. Investors likely won’t tolerate this “buying high and selling low” set of actions again down the road. The future for Netflix really depends on whether they can continue to grow the streaming business and make money on it at $8 per month. If they can, there is plenty of upside here. If not, TCV and T Rowe are going to have some losses on their hands a year or two from now.

Full Disclosure: Long Apple and no positions in Amazon or Netflix at the time of writing, but positions may change at any time

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